Counting mechanism



June 28, 1932. B. L ANDON COUNTING MECHANISM Filed May 15, 1928 i 4Sheets-Sheet -l Imam June 28, 1932. 1.. B. LANDON COUNTING MECHANISM 4Sheet-Sheet 2 Filed May 15, 1928 fizveizior: A55 5. AHA/DON, z 2

June L. E. LANDON 1,865,321

' coum'me MECHANISM Filed May 15, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 LEE .6.A4/v00/v,

Jun e 28, 1932. L B. LANDON 2 COUNTING MECHANI SM Filed May 15 9 8 4Sheets-Sheet 4 L55 .6. LAM/002v,

W v V Z 2 I $1.5 filarney Patented June 28, 1932 VLANDO'NVOEnnwoonginnmna, AS'SIGNOR T AMERICAN w t rnA'rE COMPANY, a CORPORATION orNEW JERSEY SHEET AND TILT I coomrme mncnamsm Application filed May 15,1928. Serial No. 277,887.

This invention relates to counting mechanism'for counting sheets andplates as they are piled oneon top of the other, and has for one.ofits'objects the provision of a counting mechanism. particularlyadapted for counting tin plate asitis inspected and piled one onutop ofthe other T i p Another object" is to :provide a counting mechanismwhich is composed of a few single g0. parts, is of relatively lightweight, and readily movable from placeto place. In the drawings-*Figure-l is a front elevation of a countin'g mechanism constructed inaccordance with this inventionk Figure2isa partial rearelevationthereof.

Figure :3 isa partial sectional side eleva- .tion showing thecarriagesupported on the plates being counted. V a Figure 4 is a sectional'sideelevation taken at rightangles to Figure 3.. Figure 5 is afragmentarydetail elevation illustrating the bell ringing mechanismsReferring more particularly to the drawings, the letter A designates thetop of a table or base on which the sheets or plates arepiled during theinspection operation. The oper:

ator inspects the sheets or plates and then piles them in a secondp'ileordiscards them as'the case may be. Suit-able blocks orsupports2are preferably positioned on the table and. thesheets arepreferably piled on these supportsto facilitate handling. 1 i Thecounterof this invention, which is designatedgenerally by the letter B,is composed of a base 3 on which a pair of uprights or' standards 4 aresecured. Thestandards 4 are connected attheir upper ends bya cros's b'ar.5,and are slotted longitudinally, as at 6, to provide guideways inwhich the wheels 7 of a wheeled carriage 8 are adapted to travel.

The carriage8 is composed of a main body plate 9 on which the wheels 7are mounted. A pair of supporting arms 10are secured to the body plate 9and are adapted to project out over the pile of inspected sheets. Thearms 10 areeach provided with a roller 12 adapted to engage theuppermost sheet of the inspected pile of sheets. j

' 15 is secured to and projects rearwardly from '17; andthe other arm isadapted to be ena the wheel 14.

levers 18 and21 about their pivotal mount- A bracket 13 is secured toandprojects rearwardly from the rear face of the body plate 9 and has atoothedindex wheel 14" journaled thereon. The Wheel v14 is provided witha number of teeth equal to the number of sheets desired to be'countedfor each unit 1 or box. 1

The .wheel 14.isadapted to rotate the distance equal toone tooth by eachsheet placed on the pile of inspected sheets. A bracket the rear "faceof the body plate 9 and a crankshaped locking-dog member 16 is pivotallymounted on said bracket. Onearm of the dog member 16- terminates inahead portion gaged by a rocking release lever 18. A 7 spring 19normally tends to urgeor force the head 17 of the dog member 16 intolocking engagement with theteeth of the wheel 14. The lever 18 projectsthroughaslot in the body plate 9, at one side of the wheel14, and

is pivotally secured intermediate its ends to a lug 20 secured to andprojecting from the 7 forward face of the plate 9. V

. A second rocking lever 21 projects through a a slot in the body plate9 at the opposite side of the wheel 14 from the lever 18 and ispivotally secured intermediateits ends to a lug 22, secured to andprojecting from the-forward face of the plate 9. The rear end of thelever 21 has an operating dog 23 ivotally secured thereto which isconstant y maintained in yieldable contact with the teeth of The levers18 and 21 are provided with cam-shaped slots 25 adjacent the forwardends in which the upper ends of operating levers 26 are adapted to rideto rock the ings. The levers 26 have their] lower ends rigidly connectedto a rock shaft 27 journaled in hearings in the arms 10. A pair of triplevers 28 are connected to anddepend from the shaft 27 and are adaptedtobe engaged by the sheets or plates to rock the shaft 27 and 1evers26:so as to movethe upper ends of the levers 26 in' the slots 25 and.thereby rock the levers; 18 and 21 so as to move. the rear endsupwardly. Springs 29am CODIJBCtGd'T-tO tensioning levers mounted on thebody plate 9 and to arms 26*, on the shaft 27, and are adapted to betensioned .as the levers 26 are rocked forwardly by the shaft 27 and toreturn the levers 26, shaft 27 and levers 28 to their normal position.

In operation, as the operator moves an 11 1- spected sheet onto thepile, he will movethe sheet rearwardly against the levers 28, therebyforcing said levers 'rearwardly and rocking the shaft 27 so as 'to, movethe levers 26 forwardly. As the levers 26 move forwardly their upperends will traverse the cam slots 25 in the levers 18 and .21'so astorock the rear ends of said levers upwardly, thus causing the operatingdog 23, on the lever 21, to rotate the wheel 14 and release the lockingdog 16 so that its head 17 will engage in the teeth of the wheel 14 andlimit its'movement to one tooth. I

The operating dog 23is held in engagement with the wheel 14 at alltimes, while the locking dog 16 is held out of engagement when theactuating levers 28,.shaft 27 and levers 26 are in their normalposition; therefore, when the levers 28, shaft 27- and levers 26 arecausedto move by the sheet being piled,

1 the locking dog 16, which requires a material amount of travel beforeit engages the wheel 14, will not engage said wheel until aftertheoperating dog 23 has advanced the wheel one tooth or notch.

After the operator has forced the sheet intotengagementwith the lovers28, to cause the above operation, the sheet or plate will be releasedandthe springs 29 will return the levers 26 and their associated parts tonormal 7 position and, at'thesame time, force the sheet intoalinementwith: the remainder of the pile.

y In order to register or-ad'vise the operator when a unit consisting ofthe desired number of sheets has been assembled, a bell 32 is mounted ontheplate 9 and a spring operated knookeror hammer S3 is mounted on abracket 34 and adapted tobetripped by a tripping lug 35onthe wheel, 14.When the device'is first set in operation the lug 35 will be setimmediately beyond the trippingposition, then when one completerevolution of the wheel is made, and upon each subsequent revolution,

the bell will be rung to indicate the completion of-a unit composed of anumber of sheets equal to the number ofteeth on the wheel.

1 While Ihave shown and described one specific embodiment of myinvention, it will be understood that Ido not wish to be limited theretosince various modifications may be made without departing from the scopethereof as defined in 1. Acounting mechanism for sheets-and platescomprising a base, a pair of spaced the appended claims.

j 5 standards secured to said base, a carriage adapted to movevertically in said standards,

lever secured to said shaft and adapted to be engaged by the sheets tobecounted to rock saidshaft, said rocking lever having a cam slottherein adjacent the end remote from said operating dog, and a leversecured to said rock shaft and extending upwardly, the

upper end of said last named lever being engaged and adapted to ride insaid cam slot to actuate said rocking lever.

2. A counting mechanism plates comprising a base, a pair of spacedstandards secured to said base, a carriage adapted to move vertically insaid standards,

a toothed index wheel mounted on said carriage for rotation about ahorizontal axis, a rocking lever pivotally supported on said carriagefor movement about a horizontal axis at right angles to the axis ofsaidwheel,

an operating dog pivotally mounted adj aoent one end of said'rockinglever and adapted to engage and rotate said wheel whensaid rocking leveris moved in one direction about its axis, means for maintaining said doginengagement with said wheel, a horizontal rock shaft journaled in saidcarriage, a depending lever securedto said shaft and adapted to beengaged by the sheets to be counted to rock said shaft, means adapted toautomatically return said depending leverand rook shaft to normalposition when the sheet is released 7 whereby said sheet will be movedinto a predeterminedposition by said depending lever, said rocking leverhaving a cam slot therein adjacent the end remote from said operatingdog, and a lever secured to said rock shaftand extending upwardly, theupper -,end of said last named lever being engaged and adapted to ridein said cam slot to actuate said rock- 5 ing lever.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand. i

V LEE B. LANDON.

for sheets and

